Dispensing magazine for razor blades



Dec. 25, 1962 J. C. SMITH 3,070,260

DISPENSING MAGAZINE FOR RAZOR BLADES Original Filed April 26. 195e magazine.

3,070,260 Patented Dec. 25, 1962 3,070,260 DSPENSING MAGAZENE FR RAZOR BLADES Joseph C. Smith, Scarsdale, N.Y., assignor to Blu Strike Blade Company, New York, N.Y., a partnership Continuation of application Ser. No. 580,829, Apr. 26, 1956. This application Jan. 17, 1958, Ser. No. '709,637 2 Claims. (Cl. 221-102) My invention relates to a razor blade dispensing magazine and, more particularly to a magazine for dispensing one blade at a time fro-m a tightly compacted stack of blades, said magazine further including a compartment forthe storage of used blades.

This application is a continuation of copending application Serial Number 580,829, led April 26, 1956, now abandoned.

It has been proposed prior to my invention, to provide means for the storage of razor blades in which the blades are stacked and fed singly from the storage My present invention constitutes a considerable improvement over devices of this type in that it provides a very efficient and certain means for the dispensing of the blades one at a time from a relatively thick compact stack. This is done by providing novel means for securely supporting the blade stack.

My novel blade stack supporting means applies an equalized pressure underneath the stack of blades and thereby also insures proper feeding of the last remaining blades. Moreover, the present blade stack support is easily and economically assembled, as compared with `similar devices of the prior art.

My invention also provides in a common casing, not only a blade dispensing magazine, but a compartment for the storage ot' used blades, the said used-blade storage compartment being particularly designed so as to prevent blades stored therein from falling out.

My novel dispensing magazine finds particular application when used in connection with double-edged blades of the slotted and notched corner type and provides means within thev dispensing magazine to keep the sharpened edges of such blades from contacting the sides of the magazine wall. At the same time the uppermost blade in the stack is positioned so that it may be free to be pushed longitudinally through a blade ejecting slot while the remainder of the blades in the stack are kept firmly in place.

Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide a device which will securely support a large compact stack of blades in a fixed position while dispensing only one blade at a time from the top of the stack and which,

at the same time insures the proper dispensing of last remaining blades in the stack.

Another object of my invention is to provide a razor blade dispensing magazine which has included therein, within a single casing, a novel type of used blade compartment.

A further object of my invention is to provide a blade dispensing magazine particularly suitable for the dispensing and storage of double-edged blades of the slotted and notched co-rner type.

These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent when taken in connection with the following description and the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of the magazine Iii) as it would appear when a blade is being dispensed therefrom.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the platform located within the magazine which defines the used blade compartment and at the same time provides means for securely supporting the stack of blades.

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal section of the dispenser taken along the lines 3-3 of FIGURE 5 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIGURE 4 is a transverse section of my dispenser taken along the lines 4 4 of FIGURE 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIGURE 5 is a rear view of my novel dispenser show- Aing the blade receiving slot for the used blade compartment.

Essentially my invention comprises a razor blade dispensing magazine having a base to which is secured a casing forming the top, side, front and rear walls of the magazine. The top Wall of the casing is provided with a longitudinal slot having therein an externally projecting thumb piece. The thumb piece is slidably mounted Within the slot and has on the underside thereof a step of a height Slightly less than the thickness of a single razor blade. This step is designed to be engageable with one end of the uppermost blade in the stack and when the thumb piece is pushed by the user the uppermost blade is ejected through a narrow slot located in an upper portion of the front Wall of the casing. On the rear wall of the casing is a slot for receiving used blades. This slot is located in a central portion of the rear wall which corresponds to the level just below the blade supporting platform which will now be described.

The platform for supporting the blades is mounted on the base of the magazine. It is Supported by integral side walls and is of such a height so as to define underneath, a suitable used blade compartment. Secured to vthe platform by a pair of opposed extension pieces is an upwardly extending spring tongue which engages the under surface of a plate at two points, said plate being adapted to carry a stack of razor blades. The spring tongue is not rigidly secured to the platform and, in fact, is permitted to adjust its longitudinal position. Thus, the plate is always supported by each end of the spring tongue and remains essentially level irrespective of the number of blades remaining in the stack. The underside of the platform has a downwardly extending projection which prevents blades from falling out of the used blade compartment through the blade receiving slot.

The magazine casing is further provided with means for centering the blades. In the ordinary casing when double-edged blades of the notched corner type are`to be dispensed the blades may be centered by a plurality of vertical ribs which are adapted to engage the notched corners of the blades.

Referring now to the drawings, the casing or housing of the magazine may comprise a base member 10 to which the casing 11 is secured. This may be done, for example, by means of slots 12 which are engageable with downwardly extending fingers 13 of the casing.

The casing and base may be made of any suitable metal or plastic. An example of an economical plastic which is used commonly for this purpose would be polystyrene, although other plastics and metals could alsobe employed. 'f

It can be seen that the casing denes the top, side, front and rear walls of the magazine. The tcp wall is provided with a longitudinal slot 16 having, slidably mounted therein, an exteriorly projecting thumb piece 18. The portion 20 of this thumb piece 18 within the casing is provided with a transverse step 2l. This step is of such a height that it is slightly less than the thi-k ness of a single razor blade, that is, between .003 and .005 inch, depending upon the type of blade dispensed. Therefore, when the thumb piece 1S is pushed forward by the user (in the direction of the arrow 13a shown in FIGURE 3) it engages the rear edge of only the uppermost blade in the stack and upon the forward movement pushes the blade 22 of the stack of blades 24 through the blade ejecting slot 23 located in an upper portion of the front wall of the casing. After the thumb piece is retracted and moved back to its original position the remainder of the blade stack is forced upwardly by means of spring 26 so that the uppermost blade may against be dispensed through the slot 23.

The spring 26 which will now be described in more detail is supported on a platform 30, as can be readily seen in FIGURE 2. This platform is mounted on the base of the magazine inside longitudinal ledges 34 by means `of integral side walls 37. The space 4U defined by theplatform 30 and side walls 37, the rear Vand front walls of casing l1 and base 10 comprises the used blade `compartment which will be hereinafter described.

The platform 30 is stamped from a piece of metal such `as steel, so as to provide the means for holding the spring member 26. This is done by stamping out from the platform longitudinally extending pieces 43 which carry thereon extension pieces 44 which are crimped over the spring member 26 after it is placed between the two longitudinal extensions 43. The spring tongue 26 is loosely secured to the platform by the opposed crimped extensions pieces 44 and is bent at this point so that there is a spring bias upward which is provided both at the narrow end 28 of the spring and at the wider end 29. Thus, the blade stack is always supported at two points. The spring tongue is preferably made of spring steel and it should be noted that configurations other than that herein specifically illustrated may be used.

It is important that the spring tongue is not rigidly secured to the platform and that the crimped extension pieces allow it to swivel or rock in a longitudinal direction, while at the same time preventing the spring from becoming transversely displaced. This allows the ends 28 and 29 of the spring to exert a substantially equalized pressure against the blade stack support at two longitudinally displaced locations. Thus, the stack is maintained substantially level irrespective of the number of blades remaining therein.

Another feature of my present invention is that the vspring member does not bear directly against the lowermost member of the stack of razor blades and thereby tend to cause an uneven pressure on the stack. Instead there is provided a separator plate 47 which constitutes the support for the blade stack. This separator plate cvens out the pressure from the spring member 25, so as to further insure that the blade stack is always leveled and there is no diculty in easily dispensing the uppermost blade through the blade ejecting slot 23, whether it be the first or last blade in the stack. The separator plate 47 may be slightly less, equal to, or slightly greater than the area of the blades. Ordinarily it will at least be equal to the blade area and, in fact, in the preferred embodiment shown in FIGURE 3 it extends to the rear of the blade stock. The important thing is that it is long enough to make contact with both upwardly extending edges 28 and 29 of the spring member 26.

As previously stated my presentinvention is particularly adaptable for use in connection with double-edged blades of the notched corner type. When such blades are used my magazine is provided with means for keeping the sharp edges of the blades in a spaced-apart relationship with respect to the sides of the magazine. The same means is also provided for the longitudinal center of the blades so that upon retraction of the thumb piece i8 a proper engagement is always made with the uppermost blade in the stack. Due to this I have provided the casing with a plurality of vertically extending ribs 51a. These vertical ribs 51a may be integral with the frcnt wall of casing 11. The rearward pair of ribs Slb may be secured to the side walls of the casing and are more centrally located since there must be room within the magazine to slide the thumb push piece in back of the ribs Sib and thereby engage the rear edge of the blade.

The used blade compartment 40 has a blade receiving slot 60 in wall 69a of the casing. The used blade compartment is constructed so that there is little danger of used blades fallnig out of the blade receiving slot 60 when the dispenser is moved, inverted or otherwise jostled about. This is accomplished by means of downwardly and forwardly extending projection 62 which is stamped out of the platform 30 and extends into the used blad: compartment area 40 so that in effect it catches any blades which may tend to ride toward the opening 60 and thereby fall out of the magazine.

The novel constructionherein disclosed and claimed in addition to having the advantages already described is particularly suitable for a dispenser which is to hold a relatively large stack of blades. Thus, with the use of my novel spring biasing means and step member on the thumb push piece, as many as fifty blades may be provided in a tightly compact stack and it will still be possible to readily dispense one blade at a time from the top of the stack.

Although I have described preferred embodiments of my invention, it will now be apparent that many modificaticns and variations may be made by those skilled in the art. I prefer, therefore, not to be limited by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A razor blade dispensing magazine adapted to carry a stack of double-edged, notched corner type blades comprising a base, a casing secured to the base and forming the top, side, front and rear walls of the magazine; the interior surface of the front wall of the casing including vertical ribs to engage the front corner notches of the blade stack,the interiorsurface of a rearward part of the side Wall of the casing including vertical ribs to engage the rear corner notches of the blade stack, the top wall of said casing being provided with a longitudinal slot, an exteriorly projecting thumb piece slidably mounted within said slot and having, on the underside thereof, a step of a heightslightly less than the thickness of a razor blade, said step being engageable with one end of the uppermost blade in a stack of blades; a blade ejecting slot in an upper portion of the front wall of the casing; a blade receiving slot in the rear `wall of the casing; a platform mounted on the base of the magazine, said platform having means for loosely securing thereto in a central portion of its upper surface, a spring tongue extending upwardly at either end thereof, a plate, spring biased upwardly by said spring and being adapted to carry the stack of razor blades while maintaining it substantially level, the side walls o-f said platform delining a used blade compartment; and a projection extending downwardly from said platform into the used blade compartment for preventing blades therein from falling out of the blade receiving slot.

2. In a razor blade dispenser, the combination cornprising a separating platform defining the base of a blade dispensing chamber and the top of a used blade chamber; a side defining said used blade chamber; said side having a slot therein for permitting the insertion of a used razor blade into said used blade chamber; said separating platform having a first integral projection extending down- 5 6 lwardly therefrom and partially into said used blade charn- References Cited in the tile of this patent ber; said projection extending below said slot to prevent UNIT D TATE PATENTS the removal of used blades from said used blade chamber; E S S the upper surface of said platform receiving a spring 943,553 Jenner Dec' 14 1909 adapted to bias razor blades in said dispensing chamber 5 113051020 Stewart et al- May 27: 1919 

